Kessler used to call themselves “Kessler Crane”, but when they really became famous for their very well-made and popular range of sliders – so they dropped the “Crane” from their name at some point, and rightfully so.
If there is one tool that adds a lot of production value without a lot of effort, it’s without a doubt a slider. I bring my Kessler CineSlider (3 foot) to almost every shoot (here’s my original CineSlider review video “Awakening” shot almost 3 years ago). I have shot countless establishing shots of documentary scenes, entire corporate films and interviews with it, and clients love the look. If it’s not motivated by the story it at least adds perspective to otherwise dull shots – and that’s something you have to deal with in corporate environments day in and day out.

LED technology has hit the filmmaking industry hard over the last few years. Most boasting they’re low power, soft light capabilities.
The Sola 4 is part of a line made by Litepanels that goes in the opposite direction (in terms of light quality). The Inca and Sola lines are hard light LED fresnels. What’s great about hard light sources is their flexibility. They’re much more efficient when modifying the light; it’s easier to make a hard light softer than it is the reverse.
The Sola line is the daylight balance of the two (Inca being Tungsten). Being an LED light it draws very little power (39W), and runs very cool. As a result of the latter, much of the light housing is constructed from plastic.
Litepanels make a Sola 4,6 and 12; the number relating to the size of the lens diameter (in inches). The Sola 4 is DMX controlled via dual Ethernet. Both the focus and brightness of the light can be controlled remotely via this medium; they also have manual dials on the back.
The zoom has a fairly wide range, offering a 72 to 13° beam angle.
The light is DC powered via 4-pin XLR; it also comes with an AC adaptor that is mounted via a very neat sledge under the light fixture.
Pros Accurate color
Light weight
Low power consumption
Neat AC adaptor sledge
Wide battery compatibility
Cons
Plastic build quality
Expensive (especially considering build quality)
Low light output for relative size (size of a 650W tungsten fresnel, output closer to a 300W).
The Litepanels Sola 4 is available for purchase now for $1345,50.
Additional camera work by James Haddock

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